Question to the Commission on Eyeballing: the dangerous new craze of young Europeans by Sergio Berlato (PPE)

In eyeballing, a new fashion increasingly popular with young Europeans, vodka is used as if it were eyewash. Ingesting vodka through the eyes speeds up and heightens the effect of the alcohol, which enters the bloodstream directly through the mucous membrane.

Having started on British and French university campuses, this dangerous new trend is spreading to Italy. There are hundreds of videos on the Internet showing how it is done: with the bottle resting against the eye socket, vodka is poured directly onto the eyeball. The effect of the alcohol is apparently instantaneous.

According to recent surveys, pharmacies have noticed that more and more young people are buying eye lotions at weekends. The consequences of eyeballing are considered to be serious: in addition to immediate smarting and reddening of the eyes, they can extend to lacerations, which, in the most severe cases, may even need to be treated by a corneal transplant.

1. Is the Commission aware of this new trend in which our young people are indulging?

2. Does it think that action is needed in order to alert civil society to the problem and its dangers to health?